


Mother

by Master_Magician



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Master_Magician/pseuds/Master_Magician
Summary: Aerith had been like any other child growing up. She sometimes misbehaved and had to be reprimanded and punished. For this, all parents had that voice they used when they had to discipline their child. But Aerith hadn't heard it in a very long time, she was twenty-two after all, but now she was about to become reacquainted with it.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74





	Mother

**Author's Note:**

> At last, some more Clerifa for my beloved readers. I think I might be one of the only writers actually doing this pairing now that I think about it.
> 
> Once again, I was not planning on having a work done today, and only intended to start/work on this one and it just ran away on me. What is it with Final Fantasy VII that just drags the words out of me nonstop?
> 
> Enjoy.

"On second thought… I think we might want to do this another day." Aerith whirled away from the door and made to leave, only to be stopped by two different arms grabbing hold of hers.

"C'mon, Aerith." Tifa said from one side, not bothering to hide her exasperation.

"Yeah, what is this, the third time, now?" Cloud spoke from the other with the same tone as Tifa.

"Fourth, actually." Tifa sighed.

"Didn't take you for a chicken, Aerith." Cloud, with Tifa's help, turned the Aerith back around to face the house.

"I'm not!" Aerith pouted indignantly. "It's just… I think we should pick a different day, is all."

"First you didn't feel well." Not convinced Aerith wouldn't try to run away, Tifa held onto her girlfriend's arm with hers to anchor her in place. With each sentence she spoke, she raised a finger using her free hand. "Then the weather wasn't bright and cheerful enough. And finally, you were too tired at one in the afternoon."

"What's the lame excuse this time?" Cloud asked.

"I'm not making excuses!" Aerith defended herself. "I just think it's a bad time."

"Aerith…"

"Don't you, Aerith, me, Tifa." Aerith shot back, blatantly ignoring the effects on her insides when Tifa spoke her name like that. "We'll do it when I think we're ready to."

"We can't keep running and hiding forever." Tifa looked to the door Aerith was so afraid of. "She'll find out, eventually."

"Mom rarely leaves sector 5." Aerith waved a dismissive hand, at least as much as could be waved with a human sized weight holding it in place. "And since we stick to sector 7 and the plates mostly, we're fine."

"Aerith…" Cloud began, nervously. "You're not ashamed to tell your mom about me and Tifa, right?"

Out of the three of them, Cloud was always the one most self-conscious about himself and his place in their relationship. It always broke Aerith's heart to hear him sound like that. She just wanted to throw her arms around him and profess her love a million times over whenever he started acting like that.

If only they'd release her arms so she could!

"No! Oh, god, no." Aerith almost yelled, but stopped herself at the last second. The last thing she wanted was Cloud and Tifa thinking that. "I could never be ashamed of you two, I love you both too much. It's just…"

"Just what?" Tifa leaned forward to get a better look at Aerith's face.

"Mom isn't going to approve." Aerith admitted at last. "And I know she won't, but I really want her to. I mean, she's my mom, you two are my girlfriend and boyfriend. It's important for all three of you to get along and like each other."

Aerith truly believed that, and she'd be saying the same if she could meet Cloud and Tifa's parents. Alas, they didn't have any among the living. Another reason Aerith wanted Elmyra to like them, so she could share her mother with them. They deserved their own parents, but this was a little something Aerith could actually do.

"Okay." Aerith took a steadying breath to steel her frazzled nerves. "Okay, I can do this."

"You got this." Tifa gave her a quick kiss on the temple. "For luck."

"We'll be out here." Cloud gently took hold of her hand and kissed her knuckles, an action that gave Aerith the delightful sensation of butterflies. "Waiting for you."

Cloud and Tifa finally released her, but it still took every scrap of Aerith's willpower to make herself trudge up to the door and open it. One last look over her shoulder showed Cloud and Tifa giving her a thumbs up as they stepped away from the house.

"Mom!" Aerith called out into the house as she entered the door. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back, sweetheart." Elmyra appeared out of the kitchen to greet her daughter.

Without thinking, Aerith greeted her mother with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. In retrospect, not the smartest move.

"Aerith?" Elmyra looked at her daughter suspiciously. "What is it?"

Curse her mother's perceptiveness! Aerith while always affectionate, was only overly so when something was wrong, or she wanted something.

"We need to talk about something." Aerith quickly added "it's not bad, or anything."

Well, it might be bad for Elmyra, but Aerith didn't need to say that part.

The older woman eyed her daughter with mounting caution, but before long her lips raised back into a warm smile. "Okay. What was it we needed to talk about, then?"

Long ago, when Aerith was a little girl, Elmyra's smile was like the warmth of the sun on her face. It was the ultimate reassurance that everything was going to be alright. It was bright, loving, and the perfect thing to see in a dark time.

Right now, though? Aerith knew she was about to wipe it off her mother's face, and that made her sick to her stomach.

This house, always so warm, inviting, and welcoming over the years, suddenly felt too small. Aerith honestly wasn't sure she could do this, but she knew she needed to. Aerith hadn't been lying when she told Cloud and Tifa she loved them, she was perfectly willing to shout it from the rooftops if they wanted her to. Yet the only person whose opinion Aerith valued about her love life, outside of Cloud and Tifa, was right here, and Aerith knew how said opinion was going to fall.

Oh, well. It was too late to back out, now.

"So I'm… umm… you see…" Damn it, why was Elmyra's motherly gaze making Aerith feel like a kid telling her mom about her first crush?

While Aerith tripped over her shoddily formed words, Elmyra waited patiently with that same equal parts loving and agonizing smile on her face. Aerith still wasn't sure if it was making it easier or worse.

"Aerith, honey." Elmyra gently put both hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Take deep breaths, okay?"

Deep breaths, sure. Aerith could do that.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

"I'm dating, again." Aerith blurted in the most blunt and obnoxious way possible.

Elmyra's expression scrunching up in confusion as she processed her daughter's words. It didn't last long, though, before the smile returned. "Oh? And who's the lucky boy? Anyone I know?"

Not just boy, and oh, you know him and her both, alright. Aerith had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying that out loud.

"It's… not a boy." Aerith said truthfully. No, because it was a boy and a girl.

"Oh." Elmyra was surprised at that. Aerith hadn't ever really expressed much interest in the same sex so that was probably a new one to Elmyra. "Well, in that case, who's the lucky girl?"

"You actually know her." Aerith explained. "Tifa?"

"How could I not?" Elmyra's face lit up with joy. Apparently, Tifa at least had her mother's seal of approval. Well, that was one down, but there was still more to tell. "Always liked her, responsible, dependable. Usually kept those friends of hers in line. Heart bigger than this house. Good choice, honey."

"Yeah. She really is something." Aerith grinned dreamily as she often did when Tifa entered her thoughts.

'Oh, come on, Aerith!' Aerith groaned into her own mind. 'Don't you dare forget about Cloud. You'll never forgive yourself if you do that to him.'

Maybe it would be better to let Elmyra think she was seeing just Tifa then bring up Cloud another time when she was more…

'Aerith!'

"Something else, mom." Aerith said without thinking. Oh, great, there went her escape. Ugh… well, in for a gil, in for a pound. "I need to tell you about something else, too."

"Yes?" Elmyra like before waited patiently before she let out a gasp. "You're not engaged, are you?"

"What?" Aerith squawked. Her mother could have hit her over the head with a frying pan and that wouldn't have caught off as off guard as that.

Honestly, while Aerith knew she loved Cloud and Tifa with every ounce of her heart and soul, that was something none of the three of them had yet considered even in the slightest. The trio were more focused on the here and now, rather than the future.

"No!" Aerith screeched when it looked like Elmyra was about to start checking her hand for a ring. "N… no, I'm not engaged or anything."

"Okay." Why did Elmyra have to sound so disappointed? Bleh… she was not making this any easier. "Then, what was it?"

"You see…" Aerith hesitated.

'Just say it!' Aerith screamed internally again and again, but the words were not wanting to come.

"I'm seeing Cloud, too!" Until they did decide to come, and Aerith knew she just kicked the hornet's nest.

"What?" A single word in that voice, and Aerith knew how bad this was about to get.

Aerith had been like any other child growing up. She sometimes misbehaved and had to be reprimanded and punished. For this, all parents had that voice they used when they had to discipline their child. But Aerith hadn't heard it in a very long time, she was twenty-two after all, but now she was about to become reacquainted with it.

"I'm not cheating." Aerith rushed to explain, talking perhaps a little too fast. "Tifa knows, and they're dating each other, too. All three of us are seeing each other. Think of it like a… uh… three-way relationship. Ya know? Just, with three instead of two."

That covered it, right? Wasn't that the best way to explain to your mother about what your relationship looked like? Well, it was certainly better than the inuendo laced explanation Jessie had tried to use on them a while back. That would NOT have gone over well with Elmyra.

Oh, boy, there was the dark look Aerith remembered from her childhood.

"No."

"No?" Aerith's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no. You're not seeing that SOLDIER." The voice, the look, Elmyra was preparing to go on the warpath, and Aerith was stuck firmly in her sights. "Tifa is fine, she's a good girl, but Cloud? No way."

"Well, I don't see how that is any of your business who I date." Aerith spat on reflex. Ooh… not the best choice of words because Elmyra was growing more upset. Not much to be done about it now, she was committed. "It's my love life, not yours."

"As your mother, it most certainly is my business." Elmyra retorted. "He's a SOLDIER! I won't have you seeing one of them under my roof, again!

"You don't know anything about him!"

"I know, enough!"

"Like hell, you do!"

"I don't like your tone, young lady!"

"And I don't like how you're talking about my boyfriend!"

"You're not going to go run after some bad boy again like last time!"

"Zack was years ago, mom! And you know he was never like that!"

"Doesn't matter! They're all the same!"

"You act like he's some kinda monster!"

"You just refuse to see what they are! You don't know!"

As the two women went back and forth, their respective volume rose and rose until they were nearly screaming at the top of their lungs.

"I know Cloud is one of the best guys I've ever met! Besides, he didn't get to choose to be what he is! They forced him!" Too late, Aerith realized she'd said too much.

Cloud was not a SOLDIER, something they'd discovered during their quest to defeat Sephiroth. He had wanted to be one, but was rejected. Cloud had asked her to keep quiet about it, for now. It was simply easier to go on pretending since, especially with those mako eyes, nobody would believe him anyway.

Guess that particular cat was out of the bag.

"Cloud was never a SOLDIER." Aerith figured Elmyra might be a bit more willing to listen to reason if she knew. Aerith hoped Cloud would understand. "Years ago, he was just a trooper for Shinra. He was taken by Hojo and experimented on."

Elmyra was about to say something, but Aerith didn't let her.

"You remember Hojo, right?" Aerith grinned, but there was no cheer, no warmth, but pure malice. "I never did tell you what almost happened at Shinra Headquarters when I was taken prisoner. Do you want to know, now? It's quite the fun story."

"Aerith…"

"I was the last of the Cetra, and Shinra knew it." Aerith growled, memories of that time flooding back. "But they were worried about losing me or something happening. So, Hojo comes up with an oh so brilliant plan. He wanted to use me to make more. How do you think he planned to do that?"

All the color drained from Elmyra's face, a look of horror etched into her features unlike anything Aerith had ever seen in her life. Any other time, Aerith would already be over there hugging her mother and telling her it was alright. It was in her nature to comfort others in dark times, but right now, Aerith wasn't in the most comforting of moods.

"And I bet Hojo would have been happy to do it, too!" Aerith was yelling now, her anger bubbling over. "But you know what? And whose idea was it to come for me? Cloud. He had to convince Tifa and their friend Barret, but I know he would have gone alone if he had to. Three people against a literal army. All just to save me! And this was before they even knew what Shinra planned to do!"

"I…"

"So don't you dare think you know ANYTHING about Cloud Strife!" Good thing Aerith's hands were empty, if they hadn't been, she'd have probably thrown something. "You don't want Cloud around here? Fine, I'll go somewhere else more welcoming!"

Aerith stormed out the door, not even listening to how Elmyra called after her. How could she? After everything Aerith had gone through, after all Cloud had done for her, how could her mother not see the man behind the SOLDIER?

Cloud and Tifa were outside, some distance away from the house. They didn't want to accidentally eavesdrop, and to give their girlfriend privacy with her mother, had decided to wait a ways off. Close enough to see the house, but far enough they couldn't hear even with Cloud's enhanced senses.

It showed just how angry Aerith was, she didn't even hear her lovers calling her name. She simply shoved past them in her haste to get away from that house and her mother.

Aerith didn't even really think about where she was going, she just needed to get away and go… somewhere that wasn't here.

As she walked, some of her rage dissipated. Enough that she could tell Cloud and Tifa were following close behind her, and for some reason were not trying to get her to stop. They knew she needed to vent and work it out of her system, and would follow her no matter what that entailed.

Maybe Aerith shouldn't have been so quick to start screaming. A million different ways she could have handled that talk ran through her head, but it was pointless. The damage was done. Now she had to figure out what she was going to do…

Before Aerith even knew it, she found herself standing before the old church. Before she even made it to the doors, Cloud was shoving them open for her. She didn't even thank him as she stomped inside.

Almost all of the anger was gone now, replaced with a dejected sorrow. Had it really been too much to ask for? For her mother to approve of the ones she loved? Apparently, it was.

Without a word, Cloud and Tifa gently guided Aerith to a mostly intact old pew to take a seat, the two of them on either side of her. It didn't take a genius to figure out things hadn't gone so well.

Aerith was about to say something, to apologize for her behavior, when she felt Tifa's strong arm wrap around her, the other hand resting on her knee. On Aerith's opposite side, Cloud copied their girlfriend's actions.

Held tightly between her two loves, Aerith was finally able to fully calm down and relax a little.

"I'm sorry." After some time, Cloud broke the silence.

"It… it's fine." Aerith let out a fully body sigh. "I really, really wanted her to approve, but it doesn't make me love you guys any less."

Cloud tried to say something else, but Aerith silenced him with a tender kiss on the lips.

"We'll figure this out, we always do." Tifa kissed Aerith on the crown of her head before leaning down to rest her forehead on the older girl's shoulder. "Who know, maybe Elmyra will come around, sometime. She might just need time."

"Maybe." Aerith wanted to think that, but right now, she had no desire to go home anytime soon. If she could ever go back. If Elmyra refused to welcome Cloud, then Aerith would never return. She loved her mother, yes, but she loved Cloud more.

Aerith wished she could be hopeful, to believe that things were going to work out in some way, but her usual boundless optimism was somewhat out to lunch at the moment.

Speaking of lunch…

"I know this might be really weird timing but…" Aerith didn't get to finish before her stomach let out a very loud rumble. Looking down at the offending part of her body, she scowled. "Quiet you, I was getting to that."

Just like that, the spell was broken and the trio broke into rampant laughter. At least Aerith and Tifa did, Cloud more chuckled than anything. The sound was still music to Aerith's ears, none the less.

"Why don't we go out for something to eat?" Tifa suggested, once she got her breathing back under control.

"And after, I know this really great ice cream place over on the sector 4 plate." Aerith subconsciously licked her lips at the thought. Lunch with her loves, and ice cream? This might just be a good day, after all.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll buy." Cloud snapped his fingers before Tifa or Aerith could argue. "Don't give me that. Let me be a gentleman and do something to cheer you up, alright?"

Not that Aerith actually needed cheering up. She was getting plenty of that just with the two of them being here with her. They could just lay here on the floor in a pile and Aerith would still call it paradise. Hmm… that might be something for them to do after the ice cream. A nap with Cloud and Tifa might just turn a good day into a fantastic one.

"Yes, sir!" Aerith and Tifa both saluted in unison while Cloud simply rolled his eyes at their antics.

All thoughts of her horrid conversation with her mother temporarily forgotten, Aerith leapt to her feet. With arms linked, the trio made their way back outside.

Only to be stopped two steps into their next journey when they noticed Elmyra standing in the doorway of the church.

"I knew you'd be here." Elmyra wasn't looking at them, but rather was eyeing the church itself. "Been a long time since I've seen the place. Bit more run down than I remember, but I guess it has been years."

"Uh… yeah." Aerith could only stare like a chocobo caught in the headlights. Her mother following her to the church hadn't even entered her mind. Sure, she'd been to the church before. No mother would allow their child to go somewhere unless they knew where, but Elmyra was right, it had been years.

The idea of breaking apart from Cloud and Tifa never occurred to Aerith, either, if anything, she gripped their arms tighter in search of strength. Strength the two provided when their arms shifted in tandem to take each of her hands and lace their fingers tightly together.

No words were spoken, but the message was clear as day.

We're right here with you.

"I…" Elmyra's gaze no doubt saw their entwined hands, but it lingered for only a couple moments before it turned up to look Aerith in the eye. "I came to apologize."

"It's fine, mom." Aerith had to struggle to get the words past the lump in her throat. While she wasn't as angry as before, seeing her mom there right now reminded Aerith of why she fled in the first place.

"No, it isn't." Of course, Elmyra wouldn't be fooled so easily. At this, her eyes turned directly to bear down on Cloud and Cloud only. "You have to understand…"

"I do understand." Cloud continued for her. "You're protective of your daughter, like any mom should be."

Aerith knew he was thinking about his own long dead mother, she could hear it in how he talked. Claudia Strife, from what Aerith had managed to wrangle out of Cloud about her, was a great woman and mother. Aerith would always wish she could have met her.

"I know my little girl, so I'm fully aware I can't stop her from following her heart." Elmyra sighed. "I know now I was a bit harsh. It's going to take some adjusting but… I'm willing to give you a chance, Cloud."

"That's all I can ask."

Aerith dumbly stared back and forth between her mother and boyfriend. Was this seriously happening? She wasn't just imaging this, right?

Right?

A look at Tifa confirmed that nope, she wasn't imagining, this was very much real.

"Now if I heard correctly…" Elmyra's face looked guilty for a second. "And I am sorry about that, by the way, I believe you three have some plans? I won't keep you, just try not to be out too late. Okay?"

"We'll have her home before dark." Tifa finally joined in the conversation. "We promise."

Was everyone seriously forgetting Aerith was not only a grown adult, but older than both Cloud and Tifa? She wasn't a teenager, for crying out loud!

"Wait!" An idea occurred to Aerith just then. One of those absolutely crazy ones that had her say it out loud before she considered otherwise. "Mom, why don't you come with us?"

"What?" Elmyra was dumbstruck. A sentiment shared by Cloud and Tifa, only they didn't voice it.

"I mean…" Aerith shrugged meekly, now unsure if it was a wise suggestion or not. It seemed like one at the time! "It would be some good bonding time. And you can get to know my boyfriend and girlfriend a little better…. yeah?"

The silence was so intense, Aerith could have heard one of her flower petals hit the floor. Just when Aerith started to panic that she should have just kept her big mouth shut, Cloud's next words nearly made her heart erupt from her chest.

"I don't mind."

"Me, neither." Tifa added.

"You sure I won't be imposing?"

"Not at all, mom!" Aerith smiled so hard, she was sure her face was going to be hurting, but it was totally worth it. Yeah, they might have to tweak their plans a little, and they would have to dial down the displays of affection, much to Aerith's annoyance, but this was way better.

To hell with a fantastic day, this was shaping up to be one of the greatest days, ever!

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, that was a lot longer than I expected it to be. Hope you all liked it.


End file.
